


Encased in Ice

by elysiontower



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Found Family, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Canon, Ship is minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-20 02:47:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22941982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elysiontower/pseuds/elysiontower
Summary: I'll be waiting for you until the very end
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 17
Kudos: 81





	Encased in Ice

Picking things up, piece by piece. Lifting debris, new buildings, people, their spirits. Everything, in this new world, is in tatters. It's okay, though - they're working on it. These things just take time. 

It's cold. The weather, the distance. Everyone - the city and the planet - is healing. They all need time. 

Galo helps as much as he can. Digs the Burnish out of the ship's remains, houses them, wages the endless battle to open society's eyes. They're all people - all victims. Survivors. He makes monuments for those newly lost, because he knows he owes it to them. He visits old graves too, while he's at it. Graves he hasn't looked at in years, but now sees with new eyes. He apologizes. Even he isn't sure why. Maybe he just needs time too.

\---

He fills that time with his work. It's better not to think about it, to not look at the news, not look at the man who took all of the time he ever had and spat it back in his face. When he testifies against the man, that time is out. His grip on himself hurts, hurts almost more than the sting in his eyes as he looks at the man who ruined [him] thousands. He wants to stop crying, but he still needs time.

\---

How much time, he wonders? Days pass. Weeks. Work is all he can do, there's no time for anything else. Alongside his team, his new - friends? family? - and with Lio. With Mad Burnish - Gueira, Meis, and others whose names he hasn't learned yet. He'll get to know them; he wants to. But they still need time. Maybe after. After… what?

\---

Months fly. Galo doesn't feel alone. The people that matter have kept him close, kept him safe. Warm. One way or another, they mean something to him.

It's different, somehow, with Lio. His words, his touches, his gaze; they make Galo run hotter than he should. It scares him. He knows what it is, and he longs for it - desperate to reach out. It's against his nature to start fires (he's supposed to be fighting them!), but the spark between them is so tempting. He wants so, so, so badly to kindle it, let it burn bright. Let it glow for everyone to see. But he can't - it's dangerous. For both of them. Lio's fire is tender, filled with love and hope. What was left in his own flames? What part of it wasn't a lie? He knows it would just burn them both, and he'd never forgive himself for hurting Lio like that. Maybe, with time, he'll figure it out. He'll learn how to love him. That's okay, isn't it? 

For Lio, then, he lets his heart freeze. That man needs the most time of all.

They still haven't spoken to each other about their pasts. They haven't needed to. Galo, at least, remembers what he felt back during their union as "Galo de Lion" - they weren't his. Colors, scents, touches, sounds; all of Lio's experiences flooded over him. Those brief moments taught him all of the pain he went through, from childhood to growing up too quickly to forcing himself to represent Mad Burnish because who but myself can I trust to end this suffering? 

He knows how Lio has cracked under it all. It didn't take their bond for that - Galo's own eyes were witnesses to the dragon that burned the city in rage, in hate, in anguish. In grief, mourning. The flames expressed the tears that Lio himself had to hold back, had to contain to assert himself as the anger of the Burnish. He couldn't be seen as just the kid who lost his family a second time. He couldn't be weak. Be himself. So the dragon cried for him. 

As Galo rushed out of his cell, the thought of wiping the tears away had quickly crossed his mind.

\---

And Galo knows it's not over. Their partnership to burn out the Promare was the first time Lio faced the world as himself, and it's going to be hard keeping that up. The Burnish still need him, but he also needs himself. Galo can't force his own feelings onto him. That would be far too cruel to the man he loves. 

So he grows colder, a sturdy wall of ice containing his own burning soul, set to support Lio in every way he can. Galo knows he needs it.

He'll wait for him as long as Lio needs him to.

\---

Which isn't hard at first, really. Too much work to do; the city can't heal with the Parnassus towering over it. There's a tension in Galo, in all of Burning Rescue and Mad Burnish, that only relieves itself when they're ripping the ship apart with their bare hands. It feels better to tear it up. It's for all the people who couldn't live to do it themselves. Whose ashes are held now in urns, even if their faces aren't remembered. Galo's heart cracks at the thought of those they couldn't save, but he hardens himself once more. He's doing it for them. 

He knows that these same thoughts are crossing the minds of his friends, from the way Aina's eyebrows crease when she forgoes a mech entirely for the satisfaction of tearing at the walls with a crowbar. From the way Varys takes a shaking breath every time he has to reenter one of the control rooms and carry out rubble. From the way Remi rubs his temples and holds his head in his hands when he takes a break. From how Lucia pets Vinny, absent-mindedly, eyes empty and exhausted. From how even Ignis stares far too long, far too quietly, at the empty cells before getting back to work. They're all tired, but they know they can't rest. In the meantime, Galo holds them all up - verbalizing what keeps them going: "We're doing it for them."

A few more months. That ugly behemoth is almost gone, they're so close, they can do it, he knows they can. Other states have even sent in their own help, but it almost feels insulting. Like they waited too long for it to matter, and are only trying now to make themselves look better. Galo's had enough of people like that. 

Whatever - he's just about ready to tear the remaining hunks of metal with his own two hands. He ignores Ignis's recommendation (order) to get some rest, despite his muscles' screams for him to stop. Even as his nerves scream at him for his hypocrisy when he tells Lio to take a break. The shorter man is pale, trembling even as he remains at Galo's side demolishing the walls, and he feels like he looks just as bad. Still, even through all their exhaustion, it feels right - he can't imagine trying to finish any of this without Lio. So the two of them burn on together, demolishing the scene of their last battle in a silent competition to see who gives out first. 

It's a tie, as Varys lifts the two of them up and drags them out of the ship.

\---

There's still tents outside, initially for the Burnish they had rescued from their cells. Now it's used for the workers to rest - the survivors of the ship's tragedy being moved to shelters and hospitals, depending on who needed care the most. 

Ignis won't let either of them budge from the tent they've been shoved into. It doesn't take long for them to stop fighting back, though - once Galo sits down, the pain in his legs makes itself far too apparent for his liking. Lio tries to stand, firmly denying his own exhaustion, but his own legs don't hold. Galo barely has time to grab him before they both crash back down onto the blankets. There's a sigh. Neither of them are sure who it was - Galo's vision is black before he's even processed that he's falling asleep. 

He wakes up to weight on top of him. No longer drowned in unconscious, the man takes a few moments to enjoy the warmth on his chest in particular; wrapping his arms around Lio- Lio?, Galo opens his eyes to see his partner resting by his side with his head and torso on top of the fireman. It would be a crime to disturb him now; the two continue laying on the ground, motionless save for the synchronized rise and fall of their chests. Just like before. 

They have time. He'll stay with him, just as he asked the Burnish to do before breathing his flame back into him. It feels like the right thing to do.

\---

Finally, after nearly half a year, downtown Promepolis is ready to start healing from the ship's crash. But one look into Lio's eyes proves that the two men share the same sentiment: they're not going to let the city forget. There's no forgiving all the pain and misery that the Burnish suffered at the hands of a society all too willing to cast them aside and scorch them for their own benefit. Lio wanted to grant his people peace and safety, and Galo promised to protect them all through spark and flame. It's time for them to make good on their vows, and neither of them intend to quit until they've breathed their last. 

For Galo, this means being more of a public figure than ever. The crowd's former cheers when he "captured" the Mad Burnish bosses are now judgemental silence as he stands up at a podium. After all the writing and rewriting and rehearsing he's done for this speech, everyone around him has agreed on one thing: wing it. Galo works best when he speaks from the heart. He wants to believe it'll be enough, that they'll listen to him. If he's been anything like the hero they've claimed him to be, the heat of his soul will mean something. He's not naïve enough to think it'll be immediate, but it's something. For now, as he's staring down his audience, he's going to fight. It's what he promised - not just to Lio, but to the Burnish. The people whose pain and deaths he and everyone else were complicit in. This isn't about him.

\---

Meanwhile, Burning Rescue is still on its feet. How couldn't it be? Fires still exist all the same, and second only to Freeze Force, it was the organization Kray had poured the most money into - not like that put a dent in his wealth anyways. All the technology, stolen or not, still had a purpose: from reconstruction to medical care, from putting out flames to making repairs on the surviving skyscrapers, the team was expected to pour its time and equipment into the damaged city. 

Why, though? Were construction teams understaffed? Hospitals overworked? Were they all now realizing what it cost, to throw their employees into a furnace? Were CEOs and managers having to cover their asses when they were caught knowing about, hell, participating in Foresight's plans? 

These thoughts cross Galo's mind on occasion, and his heart burns. He thinks Lio's rubbing off on him.

\---

Given how the former boss and his generals have been staying in his apartment, it only makes sense they're growing similar. 

The three had been exhausted after everything that had happened, and when Gueira and Meis were recovered and cleared of their injuries, there was no way he wouldn't offer his home to them, just as he had to Lio. Their protests fall on deaf ears. He remembers, no, still knows what it's like not to have a family, or to lose it. Maybe he didn't believe himself earlier - does he really have one now? It doesn't matter; recalling the joy in the trio, Lio's pure and open sobs upon reuniting atop the ship, Galo could have only described the scene as a son being held by loving parents. 

He remembers having felt a sharp pain in his chest at the sight. One he isn't proud of.

No time to mourn the past. The least he can do, as he pushes down his guilt and envy, is to give them shelter now. When he sees how closely they hold each other, how safe they look, he can't imagine what they've been through. He's going to make sure that none of it happens again. Enough families have been torn apart.

\---

It takes a while for everyone to fit in. The trio aren't Burning Rescue, not legally, but they have full access to their resources in order to help the city heal. It's part of their sentence - community service, since jail time wouldn't have helped anyone. Promepolis needs the extra hands, and it knows it. 

Small talk is little. Meis brushes off the offer of a break, opting instead to help with pouring cement where it needs to go. "Make yourself useful somewhere else," he explains. "I got this covered." 

Even Lio doesn't talk to Galo as much, what with everything to do. It's greetings in passing, empty smiles, lingering touches that sear Galo's skin more than it should. It threatens to melt the ice around him, to burn him in his thoughts and feelings. It scares him, but he's not sure who he's afraid of more. It might be himself.

So he pulls away, returning the smiles with his own bright grin, hoping that light reaches Lio the way he needs. Those eyes used to burn, and what Galo wouldn't give to light them once more. But it can't be him. Shouldn't be. 

With that, Lio walks off.

The cold that follows hurts so much worse.

\---

Months of more work. Conversations made brief, lunch breaks skipped, sleepless nights. Maybe the exhaustion is unifying - everyone's used to the hellish hours, even if for different reasons. Doesn't stop Meis's eyes- ...eye? From drooping shut, or Lucia nodding off on her feet. 

Varys cracks a joke about Ignis's shades hiding if he's asleep, and Lio laughs. It's tired, just like everyone else, but to Galo it's beautiful.

Gueira hesitantly accepts a coffee from Aina, glaring at it, before hesitantly sipping away. She's about to get back to her own work before he mutters out, "Thanks." It brings a smile to her face, throwing back a "No problem" before heading back. 

It brings one to Galo's face, too. Everyone else is starting to thaw, even if his own heart is locked in ice. Good. That's how it should be.

\---

He stares at a pair of hands, sometimes. Supposedly, they're his, but who's to say? They move when he wants them to, he can feel them, but they're… wrong. Like they shouldn't be there. Like he shouldn't be here.

What would be different, he wonders?

If the fire never started.

If his parents had lived.

If he hadn't.

No use thinking about it. Galo works better if he doesn't think. He's good on his feet - quick, instinctual, feels his surroundings instead of wasting time planning. That's what works.

So don't think about this. Too much to do, too many people doing worse. Just get to work, idiot. Make yourself useful, eyesore. 

That's what he's good for, isn't it? He's not a person. Just an idiot.

So why is he just sitting there?

\---

There's a hand on his shoulder. It's small, warm, and he turns to see Lio taking a seat next to him on the couch. 

Galo sees his smile first, the melancholy in it soon after. Lio's hand doesn't leave his shoulder, instead rubbing soft circles into it. 

It's comforting. 

It's awful; Lio shouldn't be the one doing this. 

It's what Galo needs right now. 

So, for once, he doesn't pull away. He leans into it, accepting the embrace he's held in, with his head on the other man's chest - ignoring the understanding in Lio's eyes. Ignoring the burning feeling in his heart. He doesn't deserve it. 

\---

He closes his eyes. He listens.

To the couch shifting under him. 

To the clock ticking on the wall to his left. 

To a heartbeat.

To Lio's gentle voice, telling him it's okay. That he's here for him. Feels his hand running through his hair.

Please, you have enough to deal with. 

Still, Lio insists. This isn't out of responsibility; he wants to help. 

"Your heart deserves to heal too."

Galo doesn't cry. But he'll be damned if he's not about to. 

\---

The days that follow are better. Little happens in their area; too much is under repair for civilians to be given access, so most calls go to other districts. 

That's fine. Burning Rescue has been helping with construction, either learning how to put things together or keeping the ones doing it from falling on their asses. It's refreshing to Galo, after all the fighting he's been through, to still be doing something. It's nice.

Galo watches quietly, sometimes. Observes his coworkers - no, friends - mingling with the construction crew. Sees them laughing together, getting scolded for messing up part of a wall, being taught how to fix it. Newer crew members finding out they've been doing it wrong, and learning together.

It's nice.

Nothing's wrong. There's no more disaster. Even so, Burning Rescue is doing its job, and none of them are being wasted.

Even him.

He's alive, and he's making the most of it. His soul never went out; it just needed rekindling. 

Maybe Lio was right. 

He deserves to heal too.

\---

When he leaves the station that night, shower taken and clothes packed, Lio is there. His smile is different from the one he'd seen days ago.

It's hopeful. Relieved. 

With the sun setting on their day, they opt to walking home; it's not a short distance by any means, but it's fine - not like they haven't been through worse. They like the time to talk.

The roads, now repaired, are packed with cars glowing their familiar red as they're stopped in traffic. Surprisingly, even this feels good. Things are getting back to normal.

"How was work?"

The question catches him off guard, as does the hand slipping into his own. He doesn't let go, answering Lio's question with half a mind, too focused on the contact to pay attention to his own words.

It's only when he catches Lio's hum in response that he starts to listen again.

He's spent the better part of the day writing speeches. Drafting suggestions, proposals, anything, because Lio knows as much as anyone that to grant reparations to the Burnish, most of them need a home to return to in the first place. Half the city is still in pieces, covered in its own debris. Prioritizing is its own hellish feat.

"Is there any way I can help? Or show up for you?"

Lio looks at him, surprised at the offer, and opens his mouth with a grave expression - is he going to turn it down?

Instead, his face softens, smiling before he answers. 

"We'll see when we get home."

Galo nods, giving Lio's hand a squeeze. Lio squeezes back.

Promepolis needs time, but they'll wait it out together.

\---

If Meis notices the pair holding hands when he opens the door, Galo's grateful when he doesn't say anything. 

He's still not used to this. Coming home to the smell of fresh food, the voice yelling from the kitchen at them to wash up for dinner. The concept of them. Not just him. 

Galo didn't think he was lonely before. Years of opening up an empty apartment, the only sounds coming from himself when he walked in, were remedied in their own ways: singing along to music while he cooked, turning on the news, picking out some shitty movie to make himself laugh. Just because he was alone didn't mean it was quiet.

Now? Now he's laughing with people, chuckling when he hears Gueira threaten Lio that if he picks up paperwork before they've eaten, he's going to "tear him a new asshole." Telling Meis about his day. Sitting together, the dining table no longer covered in mundane tax forms and part-time job applications, but instead with pots of food and plates and surrounded by people.

Galo looks to Lio, the other man glowing, expression softened as he digs into his rice. Maybe he's only noticing now, but Lio looks… happy.

Maybe this is going to be normal. 

Maybe that's what he wants.

He doesn't remember what family is like. But in here, with the warmth of company, of smiles, of sound, he thinks this is what it's like. And he realizes, with love, that he's melting in it. His heart won't stay frozen forever. It doesn't have to.

And, maybe, that's okay.

\---

That night, Lio knocks on his door.

That night, Galo lets him in.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading.... i initially made this with the intent of following the narrative of the ending song, but kind of got carried away. PLEASE leave comments and criticisms!
> 
> feel free to also comment better tags for this, idk what to tag this as


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